Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Questionnaire to Evaluate Primary Care Team Knowledge
Mentor Information
Guy Neff (Department of Hepatology)
Description
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is an umbrella term for liver conditions that involve fat being stored in liver cells. Over 150 million people in the United States are affected by NAFLD. NAFLD encompasses nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFL), nonalcoholic steatosis hepatitis (NASH), advanced stages of fibrosis, and cirrhosis. NAFLD is a diagnosis of exclusion and eliminates alcoholic liver disease, genetic disorders, and numerous virus-related liver diseases. Primary care providers (PCP) play a crucial role in identifying and diagnosing their patients with NAFLD or risk of liver disease. However, the depth of knowledge regarding fatty liver is not well categorized in this disease state. The goal of the project is to evaluate the knowledge and information known about NAFLD in local primary care physicians. A cross-sectional survey is ongoing with many primary care team providers along the west coast of Florida. The providers selected will complete a prepared questionnaire about NAFLD. The questions are broken into three groups: general information, diagnostic acumen, and disease state outcomes. We will evaluate the most common information deficits and direct education efforts towards them. The early results demonstrate a very low knowledge base for fatty liver disease. The results are ongoing and will be tabulated as participation increases. Questions from each section were not answered correctly. The results show that many primary care providers underestimate the prevalence and importance of NAFLD. The overall results demonstrate that educational efforts involving the basic principles of identifying and managing NAFLD are a critical need.
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Questionnaire to Evaluate Primary Care Team Knowledge
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is an umbrella term for liver conditions that involve fat being stored in liver cells. Over 150 million people in the United States are affected by NAFLD. NAFLD encompasses nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFL), nonalcoholic steatosis hepatitis (NASH), advanced stages of fibrosis, and cirrhosis. NAFLD is a diagnosis of exclusion and eliminates alcoholic liver disease, genetic disorders, and numerous virus-related liver diseases. Primary care providers (PCP) play a crucial role in identifying and diagnosing their patients with NAFLD or risk of liver disease. However, the depth of knowledge regarding fatty liver is not well categorized in this disease state. The goal of the project is to evaluate the knowledge and information known about NAFLD in local primary care physicians. A cross-sectional survey is ongoing with many primary care team providers along the west coast of Florida. The providers selected will complete a prepared questionnaire about NAFLD. The questions are broken into three groups: general information, diagnostic acumen, and disease state outcomes. We will evaluate the most common information deficits and direct education efforts towards them. The early results demonstrate a very low knowledge base for fatty liver disease. The results are ongoing and will be tabulated as participation increases. Questions from each section were not answered correctly. The results show that many primary care providers underestimate the prevalence and importance of NAFLD. The overall results demonstrate that educational efforts involving the basic principles of identifying and managing NAFLD are a critical need.
